The Red Dragon (Chinese Junk) - My Build Log from Dec 2018 to May 2019

BUILD NOTES
To be honest - this was one of my favourite ships to build! Adding the red paint to the railings and edges, and changing up the plain off-white cotton sails to light-weight red cotton drill (handmade similar to the Black Pearl sails) was, in my opinion, worthwhile - especially when looking at the end result.

No injuries.
No missing parts.

In short - a totally enjoyable build - up to the rigging of the sails :) :) :) Yep - another pain in the $##%. The plans in the kit were not complete, and bits just didn't match. Tediously I stepped through each rigging plan, compared them to the actual parts of the ship, and to photos of others' builds. I created notes on what to do for each section (old-school - all hand written) and after a couple weeks of pulling out hair, I had a system in place that I could understand.

My created rigging system complete with pencil drawings, worked.

My most-creative parts on this ship - are the three hanging lanterns. These were painted with Citadel Paints from our Warhammer 40k paint collection. I attempted a glow effect on the lamps with a yellow glaze, two oranges, two reds and black - it almost works. :) :) :)

SPECIFICATIONS
Scale: 1:60
Length (mm): 480
Height (mm): 440
Difficulty Level: 2

Fun Fact - Size when in Real Life
Approx. Length (metres): 28.80
Approx. Height (metres): 26.40

HISTORY
This is the Red Dragon - Chinese Junk Naval Modeling Kit. The wooden model of this East Asian/Chinese boat adds an exotic touch to your collection at the scale model of 1/60. Kit included the wood and metal, threads, and cloth for the sails etc....

For centuries, huge fleets of junks have plied the rivers, harbors and seas of the Far East, from Singapore to northern China. Transporting food, wood and often armed with guns and/or canons, they were the terror of the merchant Clippers transporting often tea and spices... It was one of the most used boats in piracy off the coast of Southeast Asia.

This is a ship with more than two thousand six hundred years of history. The Red Dragon, this wooden model of the Chinese junk, is still in use in many parts of Southeast Asia, these boats were used for both war and trade.

The appearance of the junk is documented from about 600 BC. The hull has no keel and has a short stern; its sails are made of thick fabric reinforced with reeds, which provides great stability and propulsion.

SOURCES: Artesania Latina, 2018; www.victoryshipmodels.com, 2019

IMAGE CREDITS
All images/photos in this production remain property of Kaleisma Studios.
© Kaleisma Studios 2013-2019.

SOUNDTRACK CREDITS
Chinese New Year (Brent Bourgeois)
Time Honored (Global Genius)
Shanghai Summer (Kolektivo)
All Points East (Global Genius)